Big local ballot on tap for Marin's Nov. 5 election

Seats will be up for grabs on more than 100 local governing boards — including eight Marin city councils — when the filing period for the Nov. 5 election begins Monday.

In addition, there are likely to be some noteworthy tax measures on the ballot. The Marin Healthcare District board will decide on Tuesday whether to put a general obligation bond on the ballot to raise about $350 million to build a new hospital in Greenbrae. And at least three different municipalities — San Rafael, San Anselmo and Larkspur — are considering putting sales tax measures on the ballot.

In addition to the council races, there could be races for seats on the Marin County Board of Education, the Marin Community College District board, and the boards of numerous school districts, sanitary districts, water districts and community services districts.

Aug. 9 is the deadline for candidates to file for the election in all races where at least one incumbent is seeking re-election. In races where no incumbent is running, the filing deadline will be extended until Aug. 14 to ensure there are plenty of qualified candidates. Aug. 9 is also the deadline for filing tax measures.

Four candidates have already declared their intention to run for the two seats available on the San Rafael City Council. The race could indicate whether the fervid opposition to Plan Bay Area, a long-range transportation and land-use/housing plan for Marin and the Bay Area, will translate into a long-lasting political coalition, or simply melt away.

Randy Warren, a businessman and San Rafael attorney, said his opposition to Plan Bay Area is motivating him to run for San Rafael council.

"Without that I don't think I would be running," Warren said. "My campaign is in alignment with a movement that already exists. The people of Marin and San Rafael have never been united about a local issue to this intensity since the campaign against Marincello in the 1970s."

Marincello, a Gulf Oil-backed project, would have covered the Marin Headlands from the Golden Gate to Fort Cronkhite Beach and called for 16-story apartment houses, town houses, a resort hotel and scores of retail shops and light industrial development.

Longtime San Rafael Councilwoman Barbara Heller has announced that she will not seek re-election; but she has thrown her support behind Kate Colin, who was appointed by the council in January to fill the seat vacated by Assemblyman Marc Levine.

Former San Rafael Planning Commissioner Maribeth Bushey-Lang and attorney Greg Brockbank, who served on the San Rafael City Council from 2007 to 2011, have also announced their intent to run.

Brockbank said the anti-Plan Bay Area faction has been effective at getting several hundred people to attend public meetings and believes that a majority of Marin voters share its views.

"It remains to be seen how well they'll do at the polls," he said.

There could also be a lively contest in San Anselmo, where council members recently clashed over the appointment of Councilwoman Liz Dahlgren. Dahlgren's appointment expires in November, and she has stated she plans to run for a longer term in November.

Dahlgren and Colin are among the six council members who have been appointed in Marin since the last election to replace members who have resigned or died.

The terms of San Anselmo incumbents Tom McInerney, Kathryn Coleman and Jeff Kroot are also ending. McInerney and San Anselmo Councilman Ford Greene chastised Dahlgren last week for failing to reveal prior to her appointment that she employed Kroot as her architect in 2003, and using her maiden name instead of her married name, Elizabeth Fraser.

McInerney and Coleman, both of whom were elected in 2009, say they will seek re-election; no word yet on Kroot's intentions.

McInerney said, "I have already formed a committee and begun holding meetings with supporters."

In Mill Valley, where council members traditionally abide by an unwritten rule to serve only two terms, incumbents Shawn Marshall and Andrew Berman are finishing their second terms. Marshall says she won't break with precedent.

"I'm technically termed out," Marshall said. "I think sometimes it is a little bit short-sighted; but it allows for fresh growth and new perspectives."

Berman could not be reached immediately for his decision.

The other council races are in Novato, Larkspur, Fairfax, Corte Madera and Tiburon.

Here's a list of cities and agencies and the incumbents whose seats are up for election in November: